Sympathy for Delicious

This piece of cinema exhibited abeyance to the great maxim "you can't always get what you want." A great cast, a compelling story, and a first time directorial debut from a well-regarded actor seems to create the formula for cinematic magic. Unfortunately after two hours that seemed more like three days in a third world airport this was not the case. I wish there had been one area to praise but this again was not the case. The cast a group of distinguished actors were uniformly without character,off key in delivery, and spouting embarrassing dialog. The storyline is hokey and filled with clichés. To top it off the predictable ending is an over the top contrivance. A gritty opening shot in a area of homeless people winds its way to a thoroughly improbable story by a very unappealing and unlikable character. Everyone else is sleepwalking through this disaster. I have no idea what some of the other reviewers thought they were watching but I know for me it was a poorly crafted film.

==Urgent update Jan 6, 2014. I just saw copies of this movie, brand new, for sale at the Dollar Store. Yes $1! Don't even finish reading this review, just go buy this movie. OK, back to the original review==

I thank my lucky stars I didn't see the trailer beforehand because it would've ruined the beauty of watching this creative story unfold. If you've already seen the trailer, do your best to rinse it out of your skull (it's not exactly accurate anyway).

Rather than tell you about the plot, I'm going to tell you some behind-the-scenes info which should enhance your enjoyment. "Sympathy for Delicious" took 10 years to make. It was written by its lead actor Christopher Thornton who, like the character he plays, is paralyzed from the waist down in real life due to an accident. So the passion he delivers on screen is 100% genuine, and that's why this film works. Nothing is contrived. Even the story, surreal as it is, comes directly from the heart of a man who has been through the ordeal.

His counterpart is played by director Mark Ruffalo, Thornton's longtime friend in real life. The dynamic is stellar. On screen as well as in real life, they share a sort of sibling love-hate relationship. This makes their dramatic scenes 100% authentic. When the characters get into arguments, you can feel that they've left the script behind and are emoting straight from the heart. Not since F. Murray Abraham's performance in "Amadeus" have I seen such raw, honest passion.

The film touches heavily on themes of religion, but it is neither preachy nor bashy. Devout Christians as well as Atheists should enjoy this movie just the same. Thornton plays a faithless character with a lot of understandable resentment toward God (again bringing to mind the excellent film "Amadeus"). Ruffalo plays a Catholic priest who himself has profound issues. Though polar opposites, the 2 characters are oddly parallel.

What makes this film jaw-dropping is the way the story weaves a clever parable of "the rock star & the priest". After you see the film maybe you'll agree that it's a very fitting analogy.

Juliette Lewis is perfect in her role, and her scenes with Thornton are at times funny, at times sentimental, at times powerful, and each time memorable. Orlando Bloom, though prominently featured in the promos for this film, plays a somewhat minor role. But he's still larger than life every time he graces the screen. As far as acting goes, we get Oscar-worthy performances all around.

This is not your average rock'n'roll film; it's much more. It packs a lot of philosophy and requires your full attention, so be sure to watch it with a clear head. It's so original I can't think of many films to compare it to. But it reminds me of the excellent film "Into Temptation" (about a priest who's trying to stop a prostitute's suicide) and the Mexican masterpiece "Piedras Verdes" (about a girl on a soul-searching journey thru the desert). It touches on some of the same profound themes found in "Amadeus" and "The Green Mile".

I give this film 9 stars which is about the highest I ever give a film. Honourable mention for the first & only time I've heard the line "I'LL SEE YOU IN HELL" used effectively (apologies to Arnold Schwarzenegger)!

"Listen please, you don't know what you did, you got the healing touch." After being shown the power of faith healing, Delicious decides to use what he has learned to become a world famous DJ. When fate steps in and allows him to heal everyone's problems but his own he must decide if he will use his gift for someone else. This is not a bad movie at all. Without being in your face with it, this is a fairly religious movie. This also presents a great question. If you had the power to help everyone but yourself could you do it or would you be to jealous? Great acting by everyone makes this an enjoyable movie to watch. Orlando Bloom is great in a wide departure from what he usually does. The fact that the lead actor is actually paralyzed gives his performance a dimension that would be lacking if the actor was only pretending. This is a pretty slow moving movie, but very much worth watching. Overall, a very good movie filled with great acting. This is another movie you must be in the mood for though. I liked it. I give it a B-.

Would I watch again? - I don't think I would

Given the promising cast and the fact that this is a film directed by Mark Ruffalo, I was curious about 'Sympathy for Delicious'. Of course, there are many actor-turned-director films that turned out to be not great, like Johnny Depp's 'The Brave' and 'Sympathy for Delicious' disappoints. To start, the story failed to engage me. It tries to combine elements of spirituality and fantasy into a current day world of drugs, rock and roll and poverty but it simply does not work. The title character is not even remotely likable. Now movies with a hateful lead character could only work if there's something about them or their world that manages to draw the viewer in and this is obviously lacking here. Another thing that's missing here is humour. The supporting cast attempts to provide some but that's not enough. Christopher Thornton is passable at best and he's easily overshadowed by his co-stars especially Linney, Bloom, Lewis and Ruffalo. I doubt Thornton himself is too blame since the character itself is so one-dimensional. Laura Linney is there only in several small sequences but she provides awesome comic relief. Juliette Lewis is very good but she seems to get typecast. Ruffalo is terrific as the priest but if he does continue to direct hope he picks a more interesting subject.

Dean "Delicious D" O'Dwyer (Christopher Thornton) is a bitter paralyzed DJ who lives on L.A. skid row. Ariel Lee (Juliette Lewis) tries to get him to play in her band led by singer The Stain (Orlando Bloom). Nina Hogue (Laura Linney) is their sleazy manager. Father Joe Roselli (Mark Ruffalo) helps the homeless and tries to help Dean. When Dean discovers his power to cure, Father Joe pays him to cure the people at his mission. It quickly gets out of hand. A man offers to pay the mission $250k to cure his daughter. Dean is infuriated and wants to be paid himself as part of the band's show.

Ruffalo's directing is a bit chaotic. On the other hand, his acting is great and I love his work during the chaos of the healing mission. Orlando Bloom as the lead singer don't feel right. Juliette Lewis has the right feel. Christopher Thornton is not a normal lead actor but he fits this bitter character. It's an interesting idea and I like this movie until the trial. It changes the movie in a wrong direction just as it starts to pick up speed with a vibrant pumping energy.